Water firm wins funds to develop desalination methods

A firm based in Boston has won $10 million (£6.9 million) of funding to inject into researching its desalination methods.

Oasys Water has been developing a method devised by Yale University which separates salt from water supplies and will use the money to conduct further research into the practice.

Included in the list benefactors are Flagship Ventures, Advanced Technology Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Pointing to recent drought problems in the US state of California, Aaron Mandell, chief executive officer of the firm, stated: "The problem is exacerbated by the rising cost of electricity, as water production is already the single largest use of California’s electrical grid."

It hopes to develop the technique, which aims to decrease dependency on electricity and costs, for use on a wider, commercial scale.

The long-term goals of Oasys Water's products are to assist in tackling "the growing global water crisis", according to the organisation's website.